Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Business aviation reaches communities across the U.S where other modes of transport are not an option, allowing small businesses to grow and thrive. It has become a lifeline for the business world, particularly in areas where scheduled airlines do not operate.

Because customer service is a major part of U.S business, network specialists, sales people and other professionals rely on aviation on a regular basis and much of the time these trips are to remote locations or are based on quick stop offs in a tight time frame. The common misunderstanding is that business aviation services company executives only, when in fact flights tend to transport company reps, customers, sales and those with technical expertise around America.

Business aviation is driving economic growth across the country, contributing over $150 billion as part of general aviation. It is a vital touchline for communities who have lost their airline service, with only 500 out of 5000 public airports being for commercial airlines, according to the NBAA.

Supporting the Local Economy

Business aviation enables small communities to access global opportunities in manufacturing and customer centred commerce. 80 percent of the money raised by general aviation has been generated by business aviation (www.nbaa.org/).

The service offered by this aviation is fast, secure and very cost effective for both national and international travel. Productivity on business airlines is increased a great deal with the time spent traveling being economical and the environment during flights allowing employees to work during this time.

Supporting Communities

As well as forging economic ties and boosting the local business economy, business aviation delivers relief to communities in dire need of help in critical times. It was used to transport supplies into rural airports on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit, and flew survivors out of the danger zone. Following the 2010 earthquake, business flights transported supplies and aid workers to Haiti and have been a critical component in relief aid during floods and other natural disasters in the U.S and throughout the world. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) claims that business aviation was responsible for over 15,000 humanitarian flights in a recent year.

A New Medical Kit

MedAire announced the launch of a new medical kit for business airlines, known as the Advanced Aviation Medical Kit. This includes supplies and medication needed on both short and long term business flights, such as antibiotics for bacterial infections and monitors for blood pressure. The kit has been created to suit the needs of business aviation crew and its passengers who might spend a significant amount of time traveling as part of their jobs. It is connected to MedAire’s MedLink service to allow a doctor to see the medical equipment onboard, thus saving time when treating the patient during the flight. Passengers should of course ensure they have full health insurance before traveling on any flight, and this is easier than ever now with online services offering affordable insurance that will give passengers peace of mind before their business flight. The MedAire kit for in-flight emergencies was showcased at the NBAA Conference last October, which took place in Orlando.

Improving the Environment

The economic downturn has proven tough on the aviation industry across the board, but business and commercial aviation are striving to build a brighter economic and environmental picture.

Emissions from aircraft are continuing to fall, with new technologies being implemented such as advances in engines. Aircraft today have 50 percent less emissions than when their engines were originally built. The introduction of winglets has also contributed to emissions reductions, by giving more a more efficient performance by the aircraft.

The ‘NextGen’ aviation system continues to develop and is believed to be able to reduce greenhouse emissions through new technology.

Economic Growth

Business aviation is responsible for generating a significant income for the U.S, through jobs created and investments made. Trade is boosted by manufacturing and employment, as most of the GA aircraft flying internationally today are U.S built. Business aviation is a national and international asset.

The economic importance of aviation needs to be built upon through modernization of the system so that local businesses across America can continue to benefit from this service, allowing both local communities and business aviation to grow. Modernization, according to the NBAA, needs to use satellite technology so that a full expansion can take place.

We at American Business Airways can manager your aircraft for you, ensuring the continued value or your aircraft along with a much lower stress level. Having your aircraft managed allows you to worry about running your business and knowing the airplane is available to you with just a phone call, all the day to day tasks of taking care of an airplane are performed by ABA and you just worry about your business. In addition, ABA has opportunities to place your aircraft in revenue operations helping to offset some costs of ownership.

Here is an article written by the VP and co-owner of Conklin & de Decker, a company that provides operating and cost data to the aviation industry.

Do you own a car, home, boat, or plane? Then you are an asset manager. Most of us think asset management deals with financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. But it should also include physical assets. Asset management of a physical asset includes the entire life cycle: from its acquisition, during its use, and to its retirement/sale. As an aircraft operator, you are responsible, in whole or in part, for the value of the aircraft. How you operate, care for, and maintain the aircraft or other assets will have a significant impact on their value.

Regarding an aircraft, anyone who touches it has a part in maintaining its value. When dealing with the asset management of an aircraft, you will make many decisions as illustrated by the following questions:

When is it appropriate to repair, overhaul, or replace parts?

Which optional service bulletins should you implement?

When is it time to refurbish the interior and paint?

When should you sell your aircraft?

Regardless of the many decisions, it is important to recognize that aircraft asset management has four main components:

Operational – What is needed to keep the aircraft reliable and safe?

Regulatory – Is the aircraft compliant with applicable airworthiness regulations?

Financial – What is the market value of the aircraft?

Ownership – What is the return on the investment and what is the quality of the experience?

Following are some of the more common and important areas in the asset management process to consider that can affect the value of your aircraft.

Proper maintenance is essential.This involves more than just meeting the regulations to have a safe, airworthy aircraft. The regulations only set the minimum standards. To maintain its value, the aircraft must be kept in top operating condition for both the routine care and the major maintenance of the aircraft. Anyone who has gone through a pre-buy can tell you that the aircraft in impeccable condition goes through the process smoothly. Find something amiss in the pre-buy and you keep looking. An aircraft that is well maintained and looks well maintained will command the higher value. Also, who does the maintenance is just as important as what was done. Maintenance is not the place for dealing with the lowest bidder.

Proper maintenance records are required. In addition to the regulations, what would be the value of an aircraft if it were missing all of its maintenance records? Again, the regulations specify what records must be kept and in some cases, for how long. This meets the spirit and letter of the law, but does not sufficiently maintain the aircraft’s value. The more complete and thorough the maintenance record, the more secure the value of the aircraft. Uncertainty causes a loss of value. Proper maintenance records detail the entire maintenance history of the aircraft and what is on paper should accurately reflect what is in the hangar.

If there is damage history, how was it documented and corrected? Was the damage repaired or replaced with new? Has the aircraft been returned to service in the same or perhaps better condition? Damage history, if fully documented and accounted for need not be the kiss of death for an aircraft’s value. Properly documented damage repair that shows a return to the manufacturer’s specification can negate or reduce the loss of value of known damage history.

Proper record keeping also means proper security of the records. You should have some sort of back up of the records stored off site. With many operators maintaining their records on computer, this should be easy. Paper records should be scanned, indexed, and stored off site. When the aircraft and records go to an off site maintenance facility, keep a backup copy locally. While rare, aircraft do leave the maintenance facility missing some of their records. If that happens, you can get into some expensive arguments about who was responsible and how much the lost records are worth. How much can lost or incomplete maintenance records cost? The answer lies in another question. How much is that aircraft worth if you can not prove its airworthiness?

Proper upgrades and enhancements can add value. What is the service bulletin status of your aircraft? Beyond the mandatory service bulletins lie a number of optional service bulletins. Which ones add value to your aircraft (i.e. are popular for your model)? Have you added or upgraded the avionics? If so, is the aircraft a unique design or is it brought up to newer standards? In dealing with art, a one of a kind piece is essential to its value. With aircraft, it is not. Non-standard modifications do not add value. They may be essential to the mission, but uniqueness in an aircraft is not a selling point.

Proper record keeping is a common theme here. Impeccable records are important not only in knowing the aircraft is well maintained, but in proving the value of the aircraft . The aircraft itself must be well cared for and match the documentation exactly.

Asset management should be part of the aircraft planning process from the start. All too often, asset management is only considered when it’s time to sell the aircraft. Rather, it is an essential part of the entire life cycle of an aircraft and if properly implemented, it can pay off by enhancing the aircraft’s value.

Connklin & de Decker as other articles archived on thier website at www.conklindd.com

American Business Airways, and all other air charter companies have an advantage over airlines with security because almost always, every passenger on the flight are known to each other. In addition, the on demand, non scheduled nature of the flights make it more difficult to plan an attack against the airplane.

Here at American Business Airways (ABA) we take your security seriously. We can not go into to details as to the actual steps we take, but some of the more obvious are that we get to know you and your employees and customers. The more you fly with us, the more we get to know each other, and your travel routines. Any thing out of the ordinary will prompt us to ask you about it, if for no other reason than we want to provide you exemplary customer service. For instance, we do not accept packages that do not accompany you to the flight, this way YOU identify the package. If no one knows of the package or bag, it does not go on the airplane.

The airlines will be required to increase the security at the airport to include full body scans. Because of the reasons discussed above, the TSA will not requires us to use those more invasive measures. With ABA, you walk up to the airplane, we introduce ourselves and check your ID, and then board the airplane and take off. We are in the air before most airline passengers get through security.

Second to our ability to increase the efficiency of your business travel time, Security is a major reason to use a charter aircraft or other business airplane. You do not have the hassles at the airport, you know the crew and passengers. We keep your itinerary and identity protected, Our employees do not discuss your route or passenger identities or business with anyone not having a need to know. The facilities we use and drop you off at have their own security and also keep your information confidential. If fact, please ensure you have your pilots’ contact number before leaving the airport at your destination, as the airport personnel will usually not give you his contact number. However, the airport and the ABA operations officer will always be able to contact him and have him call you.

So what do the increased security measures mean to you and ABA? Hopefully, they give you another reason to try us and see for yourself that we offer a more enjoyable, secure and efficient way to meet your business travel needs. In fact, our Navajo Chieftain is one of the most economical alternatives in a cabin class business aircraft, it is fast, relatively quite and allows face to face meetings while en-route, just like the larger turbo props and jets, just with a lower price tag. For a trip of less than 300 miles, it is perfect.